About

Elizabeth Wilhideis the author of two novels, If I CouldTell You ( published by Fig Tree Penguin 2016 and Penguin US 2017) and Ashenden (Fig Tree Penguin, Simon & Schuster and Lumen).

She has also published many books on design and interiors, including William Morris: Décor and Design, Sir Edwin Lutyens: Designing in the English Tradition, The Mackintosh Style and Scandinavian Home.

I wanted to be able to contact Ms Wilhide directly but this will have to do –
Dear Elizabeth, may I draw your attention (if you haven’t already seen it) to a book of water colours by Alexander Cresswell called ‘Silent Houses of Britain’ It depicts in pictures a great deal of what you portray in words and is one of my favourite possessions. As I read your glorious book I am reminded time and again of the illustrations. Growing up in England just after the war we had a steady supply of ‘big house’ films by the Rank organisation and came to love the notion of sweeping staircases and glamorous clothes and Margaret Lockwood, Stewart Granger, James Mason etc. provided some exotica in our dreary, post war world. Do get a glimpse of the book if you don’t already know it, I feel certain you will love it as I do. With best wishes, Megan Walden

Dear Megan,
Thank you so much for getting in touch and recommending ‘Silent Houses of Britain’. I will certainly look out for it. It sounds right up my street. I’m so glad that you enjoyed Ashenden and that it struck a chord.

I moved to this country when I was 14, after growing up mainly in Canada, and was immediately struck by a sense of the past. Until then, I hadn’t really known any houses that dated back much before the nineteenth century.